Saturday, June 9, 2018

Security In Iraq, Jun 1-7, 2018

Security in Iraq in the first week of June 2018 remained
largely the same as May. The new mean is around 50 incidents, which has
happened 4 of the last 5 weeks. Casualties have been stable as a result as
well.

There were 55 incidents from June 1-7. In April, there were
40 incidents 3 of the 4 weeks, and then in May there were 50 incidents 3 of
those 4 weeks. Baghdad with 11 and Salahaddin with 14 led the country in
violence.

Security Incidents In Iraq By
Province May 22-28, 2018

Babil
1

Basra
1

Irbil
1

Anbar
2

Kurdistan
4

Ninewa
5

Diyala
7

Kirkuk
9

Baghdad
11

Salahaddin
14

Casualties In Iraq By
Province May 22-28, 2018

Babil
4 (4 Wounded)

Diyala
5 (3 Killed, 2 Wounded)

Kirkuk
8 (2 Killed, 6 Wounded)

Kurdistan
10 (9 Killed, 1 Wounded)

Baghdad
20 (8 Killed, 12 Wounded)

Salahaddin
40 (33 Killed, 7 Wounded)

Ninewa
45 (45 Killed)

100 people died and 32 were wounded during the week. There
were 41 bodies discovered in Ninewa leaving 59 violent deaths, which was just
around the same amount as each week in May. Most those corpses were coming from
the rubble of the Old City in Mosul. Over 1,200 bodies have been recovered
in just the last two weeks. Most have been labeled Islamic State members
without reportedly actually checking their identities, so most have not been
added to the weekly totals. 3 Turkish soldiers, 6 members of the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), 9 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), 13 Hashd al-Shaabi, and 69
civilians lost their lives, and 1 Turkish soldier, 2 ISF, 8 Hashd, and 21
civilians were injured.

Violence has completely fallen off in Anbar over the last
year and half. This week there were two suicidebombers who were
killed before they could set off their devices.

Babil is another area where violence picked up at the start
of 2018, and has since fallen off. An IED
went off in Iskandiriya wounding 4 Hashd. Attacks are down to about one every
other week now when before there was about one every other day.

There were 11 incidents in Baghdad. All were low level like
shootings and IEDs. An explosives stash detonated
in Sadr City, apparently in a building used by Moqtada al-Sadr’s Sayara Salam
militia that left over 100 casualties. This caused a huge controversy, and the
government promised it would take some action.

There were few attacks in Diyala, but their nature remained
troubling. The Islamic State attacked three towns during the week. This is
becoming routine now. The insurgents are active in all the rural areas, and
have been rebuilding in the province. Despite constant sweeps, the security
forces have not been able to stop this escalation in operations by the
militants.

In May, there was a huge explosion in attacks in Kirkuk
because of the elections. Things have since calmed down. There were 9 incidents
in the first week of June. There was one shoot out with IS, an infiltration
attempt and an IED on a Hashd house. Southern Kirkuk is another place where IS
is rebuilding and these incidents show its attempt to re-establish control in
those areas.

Turkey has moved deeper into northern Kurdistan. It is
attempting to push the PKK away from the border and has threatened to attack
its main base in Qandil, which it has been operating out of for decades. Prime
Minister Haidar Abadi said that Ankara had to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and
that Baghdad would not allow any group to use Iraqi territory to attack its
neighbors, but the central government, and not even the Kurdistan government
has any influence over this area. That means that the Turks will continue their
campaign which has entered its third month now. 3 Turkish soldiers, 6 PKK were
killed, and 1 Turkish soldier was wounded in clashes and air strikes during the
week.

Besides the bodies being found there were three attacks in
Ninewa. One was a gun battle with IS, while the other two were IEDs. Overall,
this province is another one where the insurgency has trailed off.

Salahaddin like Diyala is another area where the insurgency
is making a comeback. A car
bomb went off in Tikrit. The last vehicle bomb occurred during the third
week of April. There were two gun battles, while the rest of the incidents were
more routine such as IEDs.

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About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com